BRONCOS AND BREWS – Denver Broncos – Beer

Touring the Brewery part of Rock Bottom Brewery.. a brew dudes’ dream come true!

The tour was a ton of fun.. We got to see the vats they brewed the beer in and the brew masters quarters. John was very knowledgeable made you feel right at home when he spoke.

Got a tour of the Brewing area and a chance to talk to the Brew Master-John McClure..he has been the Brew Master at Rock Bottom Downtown for 11 years and been brewing for 17 years.

John does an incredible job putting together these brews four days a week. Rock Bottom has 18 brews on tap right now..oops! I mean 17 because the Cider brew he made disappeared so fast! ( I guess it was a little bit popular.)

Rock Bottom Downtown Denver was the 1st Rock Bottom restaurant..it was named this because it was the bottom of the Prudential building(slogan-you got a piece of the Rock) You Have Not Been To Denver Until You Have Been To ROCK BOTTOM!!

The Assistant Brew Master is Doug.. he created the New Brew called The American Dream..Crystal Malt and dry hopped..mmm, the brew was awesome!!

The Brew Masters choice was Deep Drought Stout.. it had a good coffee flavor and a smooth taste that went down good!!

Hearing about the different brews like the Saison brewed at 85 degrees and carbonated or the other brews and how they come up with the new ideas on the brews coming out.

We were quite the brew crew!

On July 23rd 2009, they are coming out with a Strawberry Blonde Ale..sounds like an awesome brew to me..count me in to check it out!!

This is the face of a happy brew dude with new microbrew logo glasses to chill in the freezer.  These glasses with the 6 pack of 22 oz bombers sell for $29.95.

Oh and…. go ahead and park in their garage… they validate parking…  No one told me!

WOW!!! Had a great time at Rock Bottom the other night!

We started out with The Titan Toothpicks..a great appetizer for 2, it has chicken, Monterrey  jack, peppers and onions..awesome flavors when they are together!! We had a brew named Bottoms up Kolsch, it is a German Style Ale. Light, and tasteful..YUM!!

Then we had the Asiago Cheese Dip. This is a staple item on the menu that has been around for 18 years(One of only 2 items on the menu to be around that long!) The cheese dip has sun dried tomatoes, mushrooms and scallions with a homemade beer bread. ( the brew used in this bread is The Falcon Pale Ale!) WOW!!..We had the Falcon Pale Ale, which just added to the dish.

The salad was Tuscan Chicken and it was paired with the 16th Street Wheat…the brew really toned down the Balsamic Vinaigrette and made the salad taste so good, it was  a meal in itself!!

The Sesame crusted Salmon  on focaccia tasted excellent with the wasabi aioli and they paired it with a Bohemian Style Pilsner they call Happy Pill (more hops) it made the wasabi pop in your mouth!!

The Smoked Salmon  Fish & Chips ( the only other menu item to stick around for 18 yrs) I can see why. I don’t know of another place in town that makes the Fish & Chips with Salmon, which made it have a flavor profile like no other!! You bite into the crust and you get a flaky pink fish which really taste good and paired with a Red Rock Irish Style Ale which complimented each other very well!

The Grilled Ahi Tuna to me was one of my favorite dishes!! I am not a seafood or fish person, but I got to tell you that this dish is incredible!! For those of you who are like me and were afraid to try fish, give this a try. It taste like you are eating a tenderloin steak! It is seared to perfection and the inside is nice and red.. We had a brew called Saison, which is a Belgium style Ale..heavy yeast flavor and heavily carbonated, in fact they actually cork this bottle because of the carbonation.

My favorite of the night was the Overnight Braised Short Ribs! They were slow roasted and boneless and were served with cheddar mashed potatoes and a great mushroom sauce! We had the Molly Brown brew which had malt flavor and hops..Awesome!!

For desert we had the mini brownie with vanilla ice cream, raspberry and choc sauce, had a great flavor profile and to top that off we had a Root Beer Float to round out the night…man, if you never had a rootbeer float, THIS would be the one to try!! It is HOMEMADE and tasted so good…i  could have a few..Not a brew, but the next best thing!!

Apparently I got so excited about the brews that I forgot to take pictures of the desserts so here’s a shot of some of the brews they have available.

When you’re there, meet Steve Cominsky-The Managing Partner. He has been there for 18 yrs..What an incredible thing for a man to love his job so much that he  truly enjoys going to work everyday!! Thank him for the job he and the rest of his crew does!

Ate at Via Baci the other night and it was Exceptional! The service was outstanding and the food was spectacular!

Had the Burrata on the appetizer menu , which is  homemade mozzarella stuffed with ricotta cheese (a cheese lovers dream.) Also had the Bruschetta, nice flavor profile, lighter appetizer.

We had the Tuna Salad-a seared peppered tuna steak on mixed greens and a multitude of tasty items. i am not a seafood lover but eating this tuna, was like eating a Tenderloin, seared to perfection! (  i couldn’t stop eating it.)

With my meal, I had a Buffalo Gold Brew, very nice, crisp taste, great with the meal.

For the main course, we had the Chicken Bianco Pizza and also the Prociutto  E Rucola.

The Chicken Bianco was very good, many different flavors came out and it seemed very healthy..my favorite was the Prociutto E  Rucola- good size pieces of prociutto, fresh mozz, large strips of basil, arugula on their home made San Marzano tomato sauce..it melts in your mouth!!

Great atmosphere! the smell of the pizza cooking in the 700 degree oven, the smell of cooked garlic in the air and the staff was very attentive.  Shea was our waitress and she was just AWESOME!  Oh and did I mention they make the mozzarella fresh daily! What a concept??

I would highly recommend this Bistro to anyone who enjoys a great meal, super wait staff and likes a nice atmosphere!

Yes that’s me drinking the brewski!

Take your lady out here to celebrate this weekend!

A fellow Denver Taste Caster! Via Baci also delivers to the surrounding area including Parker CO.

We live nice and close to Rockyard so it’s SWEET that I really love their brews!  They offer their sampler flights at a great rate and it’s cold and fresh and……. well you need to come and check it out for yourself.

First the atmosphere there is kinda perfect, lots of big TV’s to watch no matter where you sit in the bar and you can seat yourself there.  My wife likes to sit right in front of the big stone fireplace that separates the dining room from the bar area.  There are also pool tables behind the biggest screen and that area ALSO has TV’s. The food there is great with a few notable must trys including the stuffed garlic knots and the jalapeno soup.  They not only brew beer but also make homemade root beer and cream soda if you have kids along with you.

Note the Bronco Horse over the Bar!

Now for the local Colorado brews!

They have 6  brews all the time and then some other seasonals to choose from.

ROCKYARD BREWS ARE AVAILABLE IN A 16 OZ. GLASS FOR $4.00
5 ounce Sampler Glasses of our beers are $1.25 each.

The Rockyard Brewing Company Double

Eagle Ale – Jim’s Pick

Gold Medal Winner
American Wheat Ale GABF 2003

This is their award American Filtered Wheat Ale with 5% alcohol content.

The flagship of their brews, I have to admit that this one is always a favorite and is very smooth and flavorful.

The Lightning Strike Stout – Chrissy’s Pick

This is their Dark rich Ale with the Coffee/Nutty/Chocolate tones.. according to the wife this is really good.. I have to fight her to get to sip it… she even ordered another glass of it.

Check out their menu here

Beer to go Here

Map

You can also follow them on Twitter Here.

Don’t know what twitter is?  Check this out.

• http://bit.ly/NwMos

  Lets ur neighbors know what u thought about star trek here! pls rt #

• @rockyard good luck! Luckily we are only 15 mins away so can have ur brews whenever we want. in reply to rockyard #

• rt @beerbizdaily New Belgium moving to Coors distribs in Colorado. Big move in their largest state. #

• rt @JerryBroughton: Twitter Tip: Jump into conversations and engage and interact with followers each day. u may make some new friends #

• rt @BroncosNFL DenverPost > Elway content with son’s decision: Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway said Thursday.. http://tinyurl.com/pv2rl6 #

• #FridayFollow @chipperdave @BroncosStable @denveratlast @hookedonwinter @parkercolorado @amanda5280odellbrewing Peeps that connect #

  @

• #FollowFriday #beer @StoneBrewingCo @Wynkoop @BeerSommelier @BeerConnoisseur #

• rt @milehighreport The MHR Denver Broncos Hall of Fame Committee: An Introduction: v.. http://tinyurl.com/oyna2k #

• @DrinkCraftBeer my wife would be down on that combo. in reply to DrinkCraftBeer #

• rt @ParkerTechGuy New race track E of Denver, built by amateur road racers, 4 amateurs try some hot laps http://www.highplainsracewa... #

• rt @BradCrooks Attention Unemployed Journos: Pepsi is Hiring … http://cli.gs/X7LXz2 #

• @ChipperDave did you enjoy trek? in reply to ChipperDave #

• @Denveratlast did u get her email? re: da wife & I being on the SE Denver team? in reply to Denveratlast #

• rt @beerphilosopher Beery goodness on Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photo….yum weekends comin #

• Beer, Wine and Food – http://www.makinghomemadewineandbeer.com found this #

• @DrinkCraftBeer I probably couldn’t get her back home! in reply to DrinkCraftBeer #

• grews brews from CA, @StoneBrewingCo where to get them in Colorado http://bit.ly/mpobo #

• @ColoSportsDesk thanks for the #ff in reply to ColoSportsDesk #

• Prediction on the 2009-2010 Bronco season http://a2a.me/29R via @AddToAny Come tell me why not 9 & 7! #

• @BikeBeerBBQ recipe for beer butt chicken? sounds good! in reply to BikeBeerBBQ #

• @briantaylor72 which bakery?? the one near stonegate? in reply to briantaylor72 #

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Was at Lodo’s and wanted a brew that I have never tried before. I had an Alaskan Red Ale. It was an awesome brew, smooth and very flavorful! It was almost like a Fat Tire but I thought tasted better. The flavor profile was so smooth and rich that you could drink alot of them…but it was lunch time.

My wife had the Aguave Wheat from the Breckenridge Brewery. It was really good, first wheat beer I could drink without having a slice of orange or lemon. The flavor profile already had  sweet agauve tones.

I would recomend either one of these beers to anyone!! Also, we had a great bartender, her name was Marin. She was the one that recommended these 2 brews, she was very knowledgable and she didn’t even drink beer! She asked everyone at the bar their names and then would check on you by name, that is what I call personal service!!

Go there, try the brews and while you are at it, say hi to Marin and look forward to a great visit!!!

Give me some feed back on your experience and what you would recommend as your drink of choice( I might give it a shot.)